Graham leads list of top district players

By DAVE COX/Staff
Graham won its second straight Southwest District boy’s basketball championship this year and it came under rather unusual circumstances as the harsh winter weather played a role in the number of games actually played. The G-Men only faced Richlands once in the regular season before time ran out, but managed to clinch the title anyway in a season where several non-district games also had to be canceled due to the weather.
Graham recently placed the most players (two) on the First Team of the All-Southwest District ballot, but came up short in the Player of the Year voting. That honor went to Marion’s Gavin Roe. Graham head coach Glynn Carlock Jr. was named Coach of the Year.
Richlands had one First Team player. Gunner McGee, a First Team member a year ago, repeated this year. McGee, a senior, scored 1154 career points at Richlands High School to become the third best in school history behind Ben Mulkey and Timmy Brown. Only eight RHS male basketball players have scored 1000 or more points in their careers.
Austin Johnson, a Tornado junior, made the Second Team, along with Tazewell’s Jeremiah Jessee.
Five Richlands and three Tazewell players made the Honorable Mention list.
The 2009-10 All-Southwest District boys basketball team:
First Team
Gavin Roe, Marion; Jordan Bryan, Graham; Gunner McGee, Richlands; Jacob Hess, Abingdon; Scott Brewster, Graham.
Player of the Year
Gavin Roe, Marion
Coach of the Year
Glynn Carlock Jr., Graham
Second Team
David Marrs, Graham; Nathan Hess, Abingdon; Derek Hess, Grundy; Jon Kelly, Grundy; Austin Johnson, Richlands; Jeremiah Jessee, Tazewell.
Honorable Mention
Graham- Sam Dennah, Cole Sarver, Kyle Furrow, Tyler Anders, Torren Byrd, Aaron Davidson, Alex Herclerode, Ryan Woodson, Darius Carper and Ryan Stanley.
Grundy- Logan Boyd, Cody Justus and Ben Rife.
Richlands- Eric Mulkey, Sean Overton, Blake Tatum, James Patton and Devon Johnson.
Tazewell- Blaine Hancock, Lathel Mountain and Quentin Harris.